Past events

Winners' Concert of the KF Chopin Competition for Young Pianists

Saturday, May 19, 2018, at 3:00pm

Join us for a Winners' Concert of the inaugural Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition for Young Pianists in Washington, D.C. featuring 14 young people from across the country as they present their musical talent and considerable accomplishment. The Competition took place on March 3rd and 4th of 2018 and was open to pianists in three age categories: Category 1: Contestants 12 years of age and younger, Category 2: 13-15 years of age, and Category 3: 16-18 years of age. The goal of the Competition is to encourage young piano students in advancing their music education and to foster an appreciation of piano music among the general public.

The Winners' Concert of the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition for Young Pianists

Kosciuszko Foundation Special Prize for the Best Performance of a work by Karol Szymanowski :
- Ryan Soeyadi
- Madeline Xu

PROGRAM:

WINNERS' BIO NOTES:

ANGELINE MA

Fourteen-year-old Angeline Ma has been playing piano since the age of five and currently studies with Susan Starr. Competitions she has won prizes in include Princeton Festival Piano Competition, Kennett Square Symphony Competition, Tri-County Youth Festival, International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington D.C., and Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, CT. In 2017, Angeline was selected as one of three finalists in the Junior category of the Greenfield Competition with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Angeline was named as a 2017-2018 Chopin Scholarship recipient by the Chopin Foundation of the United States. She won the Menges Scholarship and as a result will play with the Ambler Orchestra in 2018. Angeline was a scholarship recipient of the Vladimir & Haewon Feltsman Piano Foundation. She has taken master classes with prominent pianists such as Vladimir Feltsman, Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Victor Rosenbaum, and Alexander Toradze.

ANTONI KLECZEK

Antoni Kleczek, 11 years old, has been studying the piano under the instruction of Dr. Anna Ouspenskaya since 2011. Antoni also studies music theory with Lora Baronian. Antoni is a top prize winner of the NVMTA Robert Spencer Piano Concerto Competition and the NVMTA Piano Concerto Festival. He was selected as the Grand Prize Winner of the 2018 Malek Jandali International Youth Piano Competition with a winner's performance at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. He is a prize winner of the Annual Pre-Collegiate Piano Competition at West Chester University and the NVMTA Piano Ensemble Competition. Antoni has also performed at the Western Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., Polish Embassy, George Mason University, and St. Mark Catholic Church's 50th Anniversary concert series. Antoni has participated in the Arts for All Ages program, performing at local retirement communities. Antoni volunteers as a piano accompanist for the church choir.

DOMINIK YODER

Dominik begin studying piano at the age of three. He received First Prize in the 2017 MTAC Competition and the 2017 Parness Concerto Competition, Honorable Mention in the 2015 San Jose International Piano Competition and a Special Prize from the jury, Second Prize in the 2014 MTAC Pasadena Music Competition, First Prize at the 2013 CAPMT State Level Honors Auditions, the 2012 Long Beach Mozart Festival, the 2012 Southern California Junior Bach Festival (Gold Medal), the 2009 SYMF Competition, the 2009 CAPMT Sonata Competition, the 2010 CAPMT Honors Auditions, and the 2011 CAPMT State competition. He has also been a prizewinner of the Glendale Piano Competition and Cypress Piano Competition. In 2008, Dominik performed in Żelazowa Wola, birthplace of Frederic Chopin. In 2012 he performed for Polish television, and in 2013 and 2015 he concertized in Poland, and recorded for Polish radio and television. Dominik enjoys surfing and dancing in a folk-dance troupe. He studies with Róża Kostrzewska Yoder.

MADELINE W. XU

Madeline W. Xu, 11, began to learn piano at 5. Currently She is student of Mrs. Irena Orlov at Levine School of Music in Washinton D. C. From 2012 to 2017, Madeline won numerous prizes, including the 1st prizewinner of the Rockville Competition for Piano & Strings, the 1st prizes of the MSMTA Piano Festival Solo Competition and the Miriam S. Gottlieb Memorial Piano Competition, the 2nd prize at the 28th International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington, DC, first place in the Young Artist Concerto Competition of the Cosmic Symphony Orchestra, 1st prize of Cogen Concerto Competition and 2nd prize of the First Washington Steinway Piano Competition.

In April of 2015, Madeline successfully made her personal recital debut at "Music at Paint Branch", Adelphi, Maryland, USA. In June, she made her Russia orchestra debut under the baton of maestro Vladimir Lande to perform Haydn's D Major Piano Concerto with St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra in the Glinka Philharmonic Hall and Siberian State Symphony Orchestra in the Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic Hall, and the both performances were acclaimed by the audience and the local medias.

In May of 2016, Madeline returned to Russia performing Mozart Piano Concerto No. 26 in D Major with Volgograd Philharmonic in the Volgograd Philharmonic Hall. On the 31st of December 2016, She performed Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major at the New Year's Concert with Siberian State Symphony in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

STEPHANIE DING DRAUGHON

Stephanie Ding Draughon studies with Miyoko Lotto at the Manhattan School of Music. In 2011, Stephanie won 1st Place in Level I of the Harold Protsman Classical Period Piano Competition and received the Most Promising Performance award from Leon Fleisher. In 2012, she won the Junior Division of the Orfeo Music Festival Concerto Competition and performed Haydn's Concerto in D Major 3rd movement with the orchestra. Stephanie has performed at Carnegie Hall twice. In 2014, she performed at the US State Department in Washington, DC. At age 12, Stephanie won the Peabody Preparatory Concerto Competition. She performed Beethoven's Concerto Op. 15 with the Peabody Youth Orchestra. She gave solo recitals in 2015, 2016 and 2017. She received the Chopin Foundation Scholarship for 2017-2018. In 2017, she attended the Gijon Piano Festival, where she studied with Robert Macdonald, Jean Saulnier, Jose Mendez, and Douglas Humpherys.

RYAN SOEYADI

Ryan Soeyadi began his studies at The Juilliard School with Julian Martin in Fall 2017. As an active chamber musician, he was selected as the only freshman as an accompanist for the precollege and college division.

Ryan studied with Dr. Adam Kent as a precollege student at the Manhattan School of Music (MSM). He has been the recipient of awards from MSM such as the Ralph Zola Memorial scholarship, Constance Keene scholarship, and the Rosetta Goodkind Memorial Scholarship. Ryan has won top prizes at competitions such as the LISMA International Music Competition, Marian Garcia International Piano Competition, and the Manhattan School of Music concerto competition.

He has participated in master classes with artists such as Susan Starr, Alexandre Moutouzkine, and Peter Takács.

This past summer, he participated in Pianofest in the Hamptons for 4 weeks in Hamptons, New York.

WILLIAM TANG

William Tang is the recipient of the Chopin Foundation of the United States Scholarship Award for 2016-2017 and 2017-2018. He won First Prize in New York Music Competition and Golden Key International Piano Competition. He was also a prize winner of the Chappaqua Orchestra Concerto Competition, Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra Concerto Competition, New York International Music Competition, Associated Music Teachers League Scholarship Awards Competition and International Academy of Music Competition in Castelnouvo di Garfagnana, Italy.

William made his orchestra debut playing Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also performed at Carnegie Weil Recital Hall, Palazzo Ducale, Centro Municipal Integrado de Pumarín Gijón-Sur and other venues. William will attend the Frost Chopin Academy in June, 2018. He participated in Gijon International Piano Festival in Spain and International Academy of Music in Italy. He has had master classes with Douglas Humpherys, Jane Coop and Ksenia Nosikova.

William attends Hunter College High School and Manhattan School of Music Precollege. He is under the tutelage of Miyoko Nakaya Lotto.

ŁUKASZ YODER

Łukaszbegin studying piano at the age of four. In 2017, he received the McGaughey Platinum Prize at the Glendale Piano Competition. He also received state wide honors due to his selection as a winner from the second round of panel auditions and received second place in the CAPMT sonata competition. Other competition wins include first in SYMF open and Chopin etude categories (2016), as well as the MTAC Pasadena Classical Music Competition (2016, 2015, 2006), and CAPMT Sonata (2009). He was awarded the Bronze medal in the Southern California Junior Bach Festival (2014) as well as numerous wins in the Liana Cohen Music festival, including first place (2012, 2011) and third place (2010), as well as honorable mention (2015, 2010). He received First Prize in the 2009 CAPMT Sonata Competition, the 2009 MTAC Pasadena Contemporary Music Competition, the 2006 MTAC Pasadena Classical Music Competition, and the 2005 SYMF Competition, and honorable mention in the MTAC Solo auditions in 2011. He has also been a prizewinner of the Cypress Piano Competition, and the Long Beach Mozart Competition. In 2008, Łukasz performed in Żelazowa Wola, birthplace of Frederic Chopin. In 2012 he performed for Polish television, and in 2013 he concertized in Poland and Germany, and recorded for Polish radio and television. Łukasz's primary extracurricular activity is surfing, though he also enjoys reading, hiking, and rock collecting. He studies with Róża Kostrzewska Yoder.